Western and rebel officials in Tripoli said they particularly fear two types of heat-seeking shoulder-launched antiaircraft missiles, the SA-7 and the SA-24, which they believe have proliferated by the hundreds during the war.

"The C-130 attacked in Nimroz was flying at 11,000 feet at the time of the attack, which is within the 1.5 - to 3. 4-mile range of a shoulder-launched missile system such as the SAM-7," said the London Telegraph.